The statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest stands at Health Sciences Park in Downtown Memphis on Oct. 5, 2017. The contentious fight over removal of Confederate statues and monuments in Memphis has been ongoing for the last four years.(Photo: Yalonda M. James / The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo

A Tennessee House of Representatives subcommittee moved Wednesday to block cities from following Memphis in using a legal loophole to remove Confederate monuments.

The bill forbids public entities from selling, donating or otherwise transferring any monuments for the purpose of "circumventing" the Tennessee Historical Commission, said the bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Dawn White of Murfreesboro. Her co-sponsor in the Senate is Republican Sen. Mark Pody of Labanon.

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On Wednesday, December 20, statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis were removed from Memphis parks
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After its request to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest was denied by the Historical Commission, Memphis sold two parks and their three Confederate statues to a nonprofit that swiftly removed the statues in December. White's bill is one of several filed in response to the removal of three statues in Memphis.

"This is not a punishment — this is just closing a loophole," White said Wednesday.

Before voting to send the bill to the full committee, the subcommittee voted to reject an amendment proposed by Democratic Rep. Darren Jernigan of the Nashville area and opposed by White that would have allowed local citizens to vote in a referendum to remove the monuments.